Liam walked into school the next day and he knew something wasn't right. Fear began to overtake him as he scanned the halls looking for Sydney like he usually did. But he didn't see her.

Relief soon flooded into his body when he saw her locker open. A smile spread across his face as he made his way toward her-excited to see the girl he thought about all day everyday, "Hey, about-" he stopped mid sentence when the locker closed to reveal Sophia, her eyes were red and puffy and her face no longer revealed her happy smile.

Liam's face fell as he took a small step back, Sophia's sadness overwhelming him. "Where's Sydney?"he questioned, his eyes already scanning the halls hoping to see her. 

Tears brimmed her eyes as Sophia spoke, "You didn't hear?" she whispered, her voice cracking. 

Fear ripped through his body. "Didn't hear what?" he demanded, his heart pounding in his chest, "What happened?"

Sophia let out a shaky breath, "Liam, she's in the hospital. She-"

That was all he needed to hear, he was out of the school and halfway down the road within minutes.

---

Liam was basically sprinting as he rushed into the hospital, coming to a stop at the front desk, his eyes wild in fear. "Sydney McCall," he panted, causing the nurse working the desk to look up at him, "I need to see her."

The nurse gave him a small smile, "I'm sorry," she began, "No visitors unless you're family. You're more than welcome to wait in the waiting room." she explained, motioning toward the chairs. 

Anger ripped through Liam's body as he clenched his fists at his side, "I need-"

"Liam!" a voice called from down the hall, pulling Liam's attention away from the nurse. He turned, still anxious over Sydney, to see his stepdad making his way toward him. 

"What are you doing here?" Dr. Geyer asked, stopping at his stepson's side as he checked to ensure he wasn't injured.

Liam attempted to hide the fear in his voice, "Sydney," he explained,  "She's here. But I don't know what happened and I need to see her, I-"

His step father sighed, a look of pity covered his face."She was shot," he explained, placing a comforting hand on Liam's shoulder,  "She's in surgery right now, but her room is down the hall. You can go see Scott"

Liam was gone before he could finish his sentence. Again, breaking into a run as he made his way down the hall. Soon enough, he could hear talking from one of the rooms, he immediately recognised the voices. He opened the door to see Scott, Stiles and Ms. McCall, somber looks on all of their faces.

"Is she going to be okay?" Liam asked his voice cracking as he stood in the doorway.

"We don't know," Stiles admitted, his voice quiet. 

Scott didn't even bother looking up.

---

They had all been ushered into the waiting room except for Melissa and Scott. 

Kira, Malia, Lydia and Sophia had now arrived and sat in the waiting room with Stiles and Liam. 

"Why haven't we heard anything?" Lydia asked, her voice breaking the silence that had consumed the group, all of them lost in their own worry.

"She must not be out of surgery," Kira replied, looking up to give Lydia a sad smile. 

"Or something went wrong," Liam mumbled. He tried to be optimistic, but he couldn't help but let the guilt and dark thoughts overtake his mind. 

"Why do you always have to think like that!" Sophia snapped, her usual happy demeanour had suddenly vanished.

"I'm just saying," Liam fired back.

"Yeah well this is my best friend you're talking about!" Sophia retorted, her voice rising in anger,  "So just keep your mouth shut." she snapped harshly as she pusher herself to her feet. 

"She's my friend too!" Liam growled, jumping to his own feet. 

"She didn't seem to think you two were friends," Sophia shot back, "She avoided you like the plague at the bon fire the other night, didn't want anything to do with you. To me, it seemed like she hated you."

"Cut it out right now!" Lydia snapped, she too standing up from her chair. 

Stiles stood up after that, and soon after him, Malia and then Kira. Within seconds, the waiting room was filled with their loud argument. Through all the yelling no one noticed Scott came out.

"Guys," Scott said trying to gather their attention, but with little luck. No one had heard him over the yelling. 

"GUYS!" he yelled his voice booming. At this moment they all stopped and turned to look at him. 

For someone looking at the group it might be an odd scene.

Stiles held Liam back as Malia and Kira were holding Sophia back, Lydia stood in the middle trying to separate them.

"Do you really think Sydney wants all of you fighting" Scott asked his voice hoarse.

Stiles let out a sad sigh as he released his grip on Liam, "Scott, we're really sorry." he whispered, looking to his best friend with sad eyes. 

"She's out of surgery" Scott said with no emotion. "You can come in one at a time"

They all looked around deciding who should go in. Everyone wanted to be the first, but at the same time they all knew that Sophia should go in first, but she thought differently.

"Liam, you go" she said sighing as she sunk back into her chair. 

Liam looked over at her, confused. "But-"

"Just go" she mumbled giving him a sad smile.

He nodded giving her a silent thank you and made his way down the hall to where Sydney was.

His heart pounded in his chest as he pushed over the door, revealing Melissa who was seated by Sydney's bedside.

"Hey, Liam" she greeted, giving him the most of a smile she could muster. 

"How is she?" he tentatively asked for what felt like the tenth time today.

Melissa nodded, "She's okay for right now," she answered,  lightly squeezing her daughter's hand before standing up,  "I'll leave you two alone for a bit," she whispered, "I'll be right outside." As she passed, she gave Liam's arm a quick squeeze. 

Once Melissa was gone, Liam sat down in the chair that had been pulled up beside Sydney's bedside. 

He felt sadness fill his heart when he looked at her.

Her usual vibrant tan skin looked pale. Her chest rose and fell with the ventilator that she was on, but he could tell that alone she would not be breathing.  Bruises and cuts littered her face, making it obvious that she had been hit. Liam's sadness quickly turned to anger when he thought of people hurting her.

He calmed down enough and looked down at her hands. He hesitated before gently taking her hand in his.

"Hey, Syd" he whispered., his voice breaking, "I'm so sorry about this...it's all my fault this happened to you. I should have been there to protect you, I should have-" he cut himself off, trying to stop himself from crying. "Sydney, I cant lose you." he admitted, "In the short amount of time that I've known you, you've made my life so much better." 

He paused again, his eyes studying her face, "You know, I never usually get nervous before games, or at all actually," he admitted, letting out a quiet chuckle, "But that first day I saw you sitting in the stands, watching our practice, my heart stopped and I forgot how to play. And every time someone mentions your name, or I see you in the hallways at school I get this weird feeling in my stomach that I've never had before."  he shook his head, looking down at Sydney's hand that was gripped in his own, "What I'm trying to say, is that I really care about you, Syd. And I can't-I can't lose you. So please," he began, tears brimming in his eyes, "Please don't leave me."